Fitness Training: Ten Fitness Skills

February 22nd, 2013

If you don’t know what the “10 general physical skills of fitness” are, then don’t stop reading because the terms are definitely ones you’re familiar with—stamina, strength, power, etc. We’re not here to reinvent the wheel or create new standards to meet, we’re just here to explain what those top ten list items are, how they apply to fitness training and how you can improve in each area with simple, powerful, Hyperwear gear.

Fitness Training: Ten Fitness Skills

The 10 general physical skills of fitness are nothing new to the fitness industry. They include the following:

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance: The ability of the body systems to regulate and use oxygen efficiently to sustain low intensity movement over a long period of time.

2. Stamina: The ability of the body systems to store and use energy sources to generate force with one’s muscles for an extended period of time.

3. Strength: The ability of a muscle or muscle group to apply force.

4. Flexibility: The ability to perform maximum range of motion with a joint.

5. Power: The ability of a muscle or muscle group to apply max force in minimum time.

6 .Speed: The ability to minimize the time it takes to complete a set of movements

7. Agility: The ability to minimize transition time from one movement to the next

8. Balance: The ability to control the body’s center of gravity in relation to the base.

9. Coordination: The ability to combine several movements into a singular movement pattern.

10. Accuracy: The ability to control movement in a given distance at a given intensity.

Different sports require concentrated training of different fitness domains. Athletes focus on training the skills specific to their sport in the hopes of becoming the best. Sports like running require focusing on the domains of speed and endurance, while golf focuses on coordination and accuracy. Gymnasts must have strength, flexibility, and power, and wrestlers must maintain agility, power and speed. The various sports require attention to certain domains, which oftentimes means that athletes loose sight of the fact that they must still be successful in ALL 10 domains to operate a peak physical ability. To make up for deficiencies, you’ll find football players taking ballet classes in the off-season or golfers running and lifting weights to maintain fitness.

But what is fitness?

The dictionary states the following:

fitness |ˈfitnis| noun

– The condition of being physically fit and healthy

– The quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task

– Biology an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

Breaking it down, fitness is being physically fit and healthy enough to fulfill a particular role or task, as well as survive and reproduce in a given environment.

Ok, but HOW do you gain fitness. Wikipedia states fitness is, “a general state of good health, usually as a result of exercise and nutrition.”

Now we are getting somewhere.

To gain fitness you need to use exercise and nutrition. Further, if we know the 10 fitness domains, we can prescribe a program that produces fit athletes. If you are not a professional and not on the brink of going pro, using exercise and nutrition to become dominate in all ten fitness domains should be your goal.

Train with the Right Gear

Our athletes have found incredible success in training these areas by using simple, powerful, gear like the SandBell, SteelBell, and Hyper Vest PRO weight vest. The SandBell and SteelBell have the unique feature of improving efficiency in total body communication. This allows the body to react to the various stimuli and share them through out the entire system. Exercises with the Sand and SteelBell promote efficiency and synergistic motions throughout the body.

Do the following moves every day in your fitness training, and you might just find yourself among the fittest of the fit!

– Strap on a weight vest and hold a set of SandBells in each hand. Step up onto the box with one leg and follow with the other leg. Step down again to the starting position and repeat starting with the alternate leg.

2. Stamina: 1 min SandBell Slam Challenge

– Holding the SandBell, reach overhead to your desired range of motion. In a forceful manner, drive the SandBell to the ground while lowering the body into a squat. Release the SandBell slamming it to the ground. Repeat as many times as you can in one minute.

3. Strength: SteelBell Thruster

– Begin in the standing position, with the SteelBell in the front racked position (SteelBell in your palms facing up and your elbows extended out). Drop into the squat position while keeping the SteelBell against the shoulders and elbows up. Return to the standing position while hoisting the weight over your head. At the top of the movement your hips, shoulders, and elbows should be open. Bring the SteelBell back down to your shoulders and drop into another squat. To build strength, perform 5 sets of 3-5 reps, increasing weight each set.

4. Flexibility: The SandBell Windmill

– Stand with feet slightly wider than hip width distance apart and angle feet slightly out to the sides. Grip the SandBell in left hand in a cradle position. Raise the SandBell over head with left arm fully extended upward and right arm out to the side. Stand with legs far apart with Bend over to right side with knees straight. Reach toward toes of left foot with right hand. Keep legs straight and SandBell balanced over left shoulder. Touch left foot. Raise back up to original position maintaining balance of SandBell over head above left shoulder. Repeat. Continue movement on opposite side.

5. Power: Thruster

– Holding the SandBell in one hand, lower the body into a squat position to desired range of motion. Drive the body upward, first shrugging the shoulders to lift the SandBell up and drive overhead to a full arm extension. Drop the SandBell and repeat.

6. Speed: SandBell Push

– In a prone position, place the SandBell in front of you and put both hands on top of the SandBell. Maintaining prone position, begin to slide or push the SandBell across the floor from one end of the room to the other.

7. Agility: Weight Vest Ladder or Side Shuffle

– Shuffle though a ladder on the ground, or do side-to-side shuffle drills while wearing the Hyper Vest PRO

8. Balance: Weight Vest and SandBell Single Leg Hinge

– Holding the SandBell, place the feet in a comfortable standing position. Lifting one leg off of the floor backwards, lower the SandBell to the ground but creating flexion in the hips. Once the desired range of motion is achieved, return to beginning position.

9. Coordination: SandBell Turkish Get Up

– Lying on the floor with the SandBell in the right hand in the cradle position, extend the right arm upwards, locking out the elbow. Your shoulder should be tight. Bend your right leg, placing your right foot alongside your left knee. Pushing off your right foot, roll onto your left hip and up onto your left elbow, maintaining the upward placement of the right arm. Push up onto your left hand. Bring yourself up off the ground by thread your left leg back to a kneeling position. You are in a lunge with you right knee forward, left knee on the floor, and right arm locked out overhead. Push off of the floor into a standing position, bringing your left foot to meet your right. Remember, the right arm remains active, locked out and extended upward the whole time.

10. Accuracy: SandBell Wall Toss

Start standing about 16-24 inches away from a wall, hold the SandBell in the front racked position in both hands (at chest level) and then perform a squat. Using the upward motion from the squat, drive upwards and throw the SandBell at a target about 10 feet high on the wall. Your body should be fully extended. On the return, you will catch the SandBell returning back into a squat with arms in the front rack position. Repeat working on hitting the target directly.